Gary is the name of a German band.

Place Name

Several places in the United States of America are called Gary (in decreasing population order):

• Gary, Indiana
• Gary, West Virginia
• Gary, Minnesota
• Gary, South Dakota

There are other similarly-named towns:

• Gary City, Texas
• Garysburg, North Carolina
• Garyville, Louisiana

GNIS also lists the following tiny (or uninhabited) towns:

• Gary, Colorado
• Gary, Florida
• Gary, Georgia
• Gary, Illinois
• Gary, Maryland
• Gary, New Mexico
• Gary, South Carolina
• Gary, Texas
• Gary, Virginia
• Gary Springs, Alabama
• Garywood, Alabama
• Gary Estates, Mississippi
• Gary Corner, New Jersey
• Gary Creek, South Carolina
• Garysville, Virginia

Person Name

The usage of Gary as a male given name in America is interestingly intertwined with the success of the actor Gary Cooper. According to the Social Security Administration, Gary was relatively rare as a given name in the 1900-1920s period (e.g., in the 1910s it was the 677th most frequent name, given to less than 0.01% of the babies born in that decade). However, when the actor's Gary, Indiana-born agent Nan Collins told him to change his name (then Frank Cooper) to Gary, this name's popularity soared. In the 1930s, 0.38% of the male babies in America were named Gary, and in the 1950s as many as 1.54% of the male babies were given this name, making it the 12th most popular given name of that decade. The name Gary reached its record popularity (9th place) in 1953, the same year that Gary Cooper received his Best Actor Academy Award for his leading role in High Noon. Since then, the popularity of Gary as a given name in America has been on a very slow, but steady decline. In the 1990s, this name is the 170th most popular, given to around 0.1% of newborn males.

Articles on some of the people named Gary: (see also Special:Allpages/Gary)

• Gary Ablett
• Gary Barlow, Gary Bartz, Gary Barwin, Gary Bauer, Gary Becker, Gary Bettman, Gary Burghoff, Gary Burton, Gary Busey
• Gary Carter, Gary Cherone, Gary Cole, Gary Coleman, Gary Condit, Gary Cooper
• Gary Dell'Abate, Gary Doer, Gary Dourdan
• Gary Filmon, Gary Fisher, Gary L. Francione, Gary Frank
• Gary Gabelich, Gary Gaetti, Gary Gilmore, Gary Glitter, Gary Gordon, Gary Graham, Gary LeRoi Gray, Gary Groth, Gary Gygax
• Gary Hall Jr.,Gary Hall Sr., Gary Hamel, Gary Hardgrave, Gary Hart, Gary Helms, Gary Hug, Gary Hume, Gary Humphries
• Gary Jennings, Gary Johnson, Gary Jules
• Gary Karr, Gary Kasparov, Gary Kemp, Gary Kildall, Gary Kirsten, Gary Kleck, Gary Klein, Gary Kremen
• Gary LaFree, Gary Larson, Gary Lineker, Gary Locke, Gary Louris
• Gary Masyk, Gary Miller, Gary Moore, Gary Morton, Gary Mounfield
• Gary Nairn, Gary Neville, Gary Nolan, Gary North, Gary Numan
• Gary Oldman, Gary Owen, Gary Owens
• Gary Payton, Gary Peacock, Gary Pettis, Gary Player, Gary Powers, Gary Price
• Gary Ridgway, Gary Roberts, Gary Robichaud
• Gary Shipman, Gary Sick, Gary Sinise, Gary Snyder, Gary Soto, Gary Stewart, Gary Streeter, Gary Sullivan
• Gary Titley
• Gary Ward, Gary Webb, Gary Wilkinson

References

• Social Security Administration - Popular Baby Names